GARY Neville revealed his heartbreak at England's World Cup exit but insisted it "was not good enough" to go out at the quarter-final stage for a third successive major tournament.

Ten-man England were beaten on penalties by Portugal in Gelsenkirchen after the second-half sending-off of Wayne Rooney.

But Neville did not look for excuses as England emulated their performances at the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004 in falling at the last-eight hurdle.

Neville said: "It is difficult for me to speak about things tonight because we have suffered. We couldn't have given any more in the match but ultimately we lost and go home on Sunday.

"For England, and the expectations of England and for the people and for ourselves, it is not good enough. I wouldn't want to use anything as an excuse.

"It is difficult what to say tonight. I've been knocked out of tournaments before and you come out of them thinking you didn't have the belief or the confidence, or you maybe didn't play well in a particular match.

Tournaments

"Tonight I think we played well at times, created the better chances, even when down to 10 men but couldn't put one of them away."

Neville added: "There are make-or-break moments in tournaments and we haven't done enough again and that is not me being self-critical of myself or the team.

"We haven't got through and if you haven't got through, you haven't done enough. I don't think I have ever felt as bad as that going out of a tournament because I genuinely had belief and I think everyone in England did.

"When it got to penalties, the belief in the squad was even stronger."

Neville is confident Rooney will put his red card behind him but believes how he is portrayed in the media will determine the reaction of supporters towards the Manchester United player.

He said: "The reaction to the sending-off will be what it will be. You people (the media) will determine that. But I know Wayne is a strong character and whatever comes his way, he will take.

"Certainly all the people around at our club will support him. We've been all through it before. But tonight is not about Wayne and the sending-off. Tonight is about going out of the World Cup."